The invention relates to a method and an apparatus for high speed profile grinding of workpieces to be made perfectly rotation symmetrical (hereinafter "rotation symmetrical workpieces") which are clamped in a grinding machine for rotation around their longitudinal axes, wherein a grinding disk is advanced along the rotational axis of the workpiece and is radially adjusted according to the circumferential profile to be ground.
Up to now, in the process of profile grinding of revolving bodies, grinding disks having contours corresponding to the profiles to be ground are used. The grinding disks which are as wide as the profiles have the disadvantage of grinding workpieces under so-called "line contact" and accordingly high radial forces are required. As a result, cooling medium does not become optimally effective. In order to keep the heating of workpieces within limits, and generally also because of great mass of such a grinding disk, work proceeds at relatively low cutting speeds. This results in a relatively long working duration, which accordingly increases workpiece costs.
The DDR-PS No. 29 342 describes a polishing and grinding apparatus for circular symmetrical and asymmetrical thin-walled workpieces, wherein its moving components approximately correspond to those of grinding and polishing by hand, i.e., the workpiece continuously performs a pendulum-like swivelling motion by changing the advancing direction of the polishing apparatus. Although this publication does indicate an oblique position of the polishing and grinding disk with respect to the axis of the workpiece, this oblique position obviously means only that the workpiece can be polished exactly as intensively as by hand. This publication does not give any indication of how to create a clearance angle between the grinding disk grinding frontally and the workpiece, nor concerning the successive even wear of the grinding disk, which would not require constant adjustment.